2L Weekly Docket

As a reminder, the weekly docket is more than just job postings culled from the internet. Whenever our office receives a job posting, we post it to symplicity. Instead, I started the weekly docket when I was getting emails from alumni, former colleagues, friends, and others in my network requesting that opportunities be announced specifically to Notre Dame students and I needed to come up with a method for communicating these opportunities to you. As a result, the vast majority of the job postings that appear in the weekly docket in a given week have been emailed to me directly by someone hiring for the position and every week, many of the job postings have been emailed to me by a Notre Dame alumna or alumnus who wants to hire Notre Dame law students.

With that reminder, this week’s weekly docket contains several internships with public interest and government organizations and a summer funding source.

PAID ($3,500) Job Opportunity: Legal Aid of North Carolina

Interns will experience client contact, learn practical skills, and legal advocacy on real cases under the supervision of seasoned legal aid attorneys. Interested students should send resume, cover letter, and writing sample to suzannec2@legalaidnc.org. Please identify preferred three locations. Interns will be paid $3,500 for 10 weeks of work

Job Opportunity in DC: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (Sent to me directly from NDLS Alumna)

The Commission was founded in 1957 and is charged with appraising laws and policies “with respect to . . . discrimination or denials of equal protection under the laws of the Constitution of the United States because of color, race, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or in the administration of justice.” I can’t say for 100% certain what issues will be on our plate this summer, but I imagine that work on the Commission’s reports on the racially adverse effect of fines and fees and federal enforcement of sexual harassment and assault laws will be among those covered.

Duties would include assisting Commissioners Heriot and Kirsanow with researching and writing essays published in Commission reports; Commissioner letters, which are usually sent to members of Congress, the President, and/or executive branch officials; and possibly with Congressional testimony. If the intern wishes it, Commissioners Heriot and Kirsanow would also be happy to have his or her assistance outside Commission hours on non-Commission civil rights-related research and writing projects, such as op-eds.

The Notre Dame connection is that the intern will work frequently with Commissioner Peter Kirsanow and his special assistant/counsel, Carissa Mulder (an NDLS alumna). The intern will also work less frequently with some of the other members of the Commission and their special assistants and counsel.

Qualifications include:

(1) Strong academic credentials

(2) Broadly defined, philosophical and intellectual compatibility with Commissioner Heriot. To get a sense of where Commissioner Heriot stands, I recommend that candidates peruse a website that she and I have created in our spare time outside of the Commission, newamericancivilrightsproject.org. Someone who is a good fit is likely to identify as a conservative, a libertarian, or some mix of both. It is not required that the intern be a member of any particular political party.

(3) Strong interest in the civil rights issues that the Commission studies; previous work or academic experience studying these issues is preferred, although not essential.

Please note that the Commission does not actually enforce any civil rights laws, so we may not be the best fit for someone looking for litigation experience. The position is a great fit for someone looking for administrative law experience.

Any students and recent grads who are interested in this opportunity should send a standard resume and cover letter explaining interest in, and qualifications for, the position to aschmauch@usccr.gov. If you want to be put in touch with the NDLS alumna who works at the Commission, Carissa Mulder, email katelynn.mcbride@nd.edu and I will put you in touch.

Job Opportunity: Gideon’s Promise Summer Law Clerk

The Gideon’s Promise Summer Law Clerk Program introduces future public defenders to the rewards of practicing in an office that is on the front line of making the promise of the United States Supreme Court decision Gideon v. Wainwright a reality. It also introduces public defender offices leading this charge to a pool of highly qualified applicants.

The Summer Law Clerk Program is designed specifically for law students who are interested in indigent defense, display characteristics of promising future public defenders and have completed at least one year of law school. Since the program’s inception in 2010, the demand for it has increased steadily. Potential law clerk candidates must submit the following: resume, writing sample, and two letters of recommendation.

Applicants who display a strong public interest academic curriculum and exhibit involvement in law clinics and volunteer groups associated with public interest work are ideal candidates for this program. Up to 20 candidates may be selected to move forward into Round 2, which consists of a 30-minute interview. Typically, Gideon’s Promise will notify interviewees of its final decision within two weeks.

Our current partner offices serve as internship sites. These offices either have full-time attorneys who have gone through our training program or public defender chiefs who have worked with our programs.

PAID ($6000) Job Opportunity in Chicago: PILI Fellowship, Apply ASAP

PILI’s Law Student Internship Program connects law students from across the country with public interest law agencies in Illinois and pays them for their work.

When you become a PILI Intern, you join a class of over 100 law students and graduates serving the public interest through PILI that year. PILI also offers a range of educational, networking and advising opportunities as part of our Internship program. As a PILI Intern, you become part of a distinguished group of 4,000 law students and lawyers who have been PILI Law Student Interns or Graduate Fellows since PILI was founded in 1977.

Several organizations have not hired their PILI fellows yet, including:

The Rural Summer Legal Corps (RSLC) program connects public interest law students with civil aid organizations to address pressing legal issues facing rural communities. Selected participants will begin the summer with intensive training from poverty law experts on housing, domestic violence, public benefits, migrant farmworkers, Native American, and family law. After the training, the law students will return directly to their host site to continue their 8-10 week placement. Thirty students will gain valuable experience and will earn a $5,000 stipend for their summer service.

Job Opportunity with Legal Aid in South Florida, March 2 Deadline

The two Greater Fort Lauderdale-area Legal Aid offices, Legal Aid Service of Broward County and Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida, are accepting applications for volunteer internships for Summer 2018.

The mission of these programs is to provide high-quality free civil legal advice, representation and education to the disadvantaged of Broward County. Service areas include, but are not limited to, housing, children’s, consumer, immigration, public benefits, family, tax, senior citizens, domestic violence, homeless, veterans law, and special projects, including major litigation and education/employment. For more information on the wide variety of programs and legal services offered, please visit legalaid.org.

The internship recipients would provide assistance to benefit the low-income community in Broward County. Possible tasks include client interviews, drafting pleadings and memoranda, and legal research. Internship applicants can be first, second or third year law students.

If you are interested in applying for a volunteer summer internship with Legal Aid, please e-mail a cover letter and your resume to Debra Koprowski, Director of Advocacy at dkoprowski@legalaid.org and Chanel Winter, Esq., Pro Bono Coordinator at cwinter@legalaid.org no later than Friday, March 2, 2018. Please describe in the cover letter your particular interest in public interest law and any preferences for program placement.

Legal Aid will interview selected candidates and make a final decision by Friday,March 16, 2018. If it is not possible to be physically present at the interview, we will arrange for an interview by Skype or other similar means. The internship recipients can begin working as early as April 30, 2018, depending on their availability. If you have any questions or concerns, please email us.